Qualification

Qualification for the World Finals consists of several steps. All universities from across the world are assigned to a region. The most successful teams from regional contests go to the Finals. However, getting to the regionals may also require competing in one or more sub-regional contests.

Universities often hold local ICPC-like competitions to choose teams that will represent them in sub-regional and regional contests. Every year for each region, the number of teams that will enter the Finals is determined. This number depends on the number of participating teams, the results of previous Finals and other factors.

In a regional contest, one university may be represented by several teams, but only one team from each university may enter the World Finals. No team member on the qualifying team may have competed as a contestant in two previous World Finals.